


Obliviousness is a Two-Way Streeet

by John_Cribati



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: And Subsequent Willful Ignorance, Because Cat Son and Ladybug Daughter Are Idiots, F/M, Gen, Identity Reveal, Lovable Idiots but Idiots Nonetheless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 14:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6662779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Cribati/pseuds/John_Cribati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which he finds out about her and doesn't want her to know he knows, but wants her to know about him. And then she finds out about him and doesn't want him to know she knows, and tries to get him to figure her out, but she doesn't know he already has, because he doesn't what her to know he knows about her until he knows she knows about him, but they're both pretending not to know about each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Obliviousness is a Two-Way Streeet

Adrien Agreste was getting his ass kicked at _Mecha Strike_.

Granted, Marinette would be kicking his ass at _Mecha Strike_ anyway, but there was a solid difference between taking a metaphorical steel-toed boot to- and occasionally, _up_ \- his metaphorical ass, versus the current scenario. At the moment, Marinette had removed his metaphorical ass from his metaphorical corpse via metaphorical chainsaw, hung it from a metaphorical hook in her metaphorical garage, and was kicking it with metaphorical boots that were on metaphorical fire.

But it wasn't his fault; he couldn't think straight. His hands were shaking too hard, and he couldn't breathe properly.

In a tournament setting, his complaints would definitely be met with a rallying cry of “No Johns.” And normally he would firmly agree.

But at the moment, his Johns were justified.

Because a scant few minutes ago, he'd put together that it was His Lady sitting next to him, metaphorically kicking his  metaphorically chainsawed-off ass with metaphorically flaming metaphorical boots.

But for that we must back up to three months ago, to a spring issue of... whatever the reader wants this Fictional French equivalent to _Teen Vogue_ magazine to be called.

That issue had highlighted the life and times of Teen Model Adrien Agreste, and in his interview, he'd admitted to being a fan of the _Mecha Strike_ video game series. This resulted in a large upswing in sales for the Pacmoc Gaming Company, and as thanks for Adrien’s unpaid endorsement, he’d been a constant recipient of all kinds of _Mecha Strike_ nerd swag. T-shirts, hats, buttons, posters, guidebooks, a travel coffee mug for every playable character in the game... he had enough to dedicate an entire room to the game if he wanted to, but he gave most of it to his friends and classmates. Because he was nice like that.

Fast Forward to this morning. He had been gifted a promotional, digital download copy of _Super Mecha Strike Turbo II,_  two weeks before the official release, and, naturally, invited Marinette to check it out with him in his house. He planned to invite Max over first, but it had always bothered Adrien that Marinette was so uncomfortable around him. She could hold a conversation with _Ivan_ , for Pete’s sake (his status as “looks like he’d kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll” notwithstanding), but around Adrien she was always a blubbering mess.

No, Max could come over tomorrow. Maybe Adrien could even ask Chloe to (ab)use her power as mayor’s daughter to get permission to set up in the library again, so everyone could get a shot. But for now, this game seemed like the perfect opportunity to break the ice that somehow managed to grow between him and Marinette.

And it was. With her so focused on kicking his metaphorical ass (metaphorically barefoot at first, gradually getting closer to the metaphorical steel-toed boot), she was able to talk to him. And she was witty, and feisty, and confident and determined and... everything he enjoyed about Chloe, in a much less vain and infinitely less stuck-up package.

As luck would have it, their gaming session was interrupted by his ring’s ominous pulsing, a telltale sign of an Akuma attack.

Marinette had paused before he got the chance to, and swiftly stood up. “Uh... bathroom! I'll be... I mean...”

She'd raced for the door, and at the time, he'd mentally thanked Marinette’s bladder and/or bowels and/or menstrual cycle for the welcome distraction, said something about getting them some snacks, and raced down the hall, out of sight to his room, to transform into Chat Noir.

What followed was the fastest Akuma takedown in Ladybug and Chat Noir history. She'd had arrived with her Lucky Charm already in hand, and still had three dots left on her earrings by the time she'd cleansed the butterfly and restored the destruction. They’d shared their usual fistbump and separated before the media could even get there to cover the attack.

He'd arrived home, put together a hasty platter of carrots, celery, and sliced fruit (he didnt exactly have junk food in his house, modeling diet and all) and arrived at his open room door just in time to see Ladybug jump through his bedroom window and race into the bathroom, only for Marinette to emerge seconds later.

Two and two had rushed toward each other at lightspeed, met somewhere in the vicinity of his cerebral cortex, and liquified his nervous system. Metaphorically.

The pigtails. The eyes. The freckles. The lips.

Marinette was Ladybug. Ladybug was Marinette. His Lady was... right there, had been there all along.

He'd entered his bedroom, trippped, and upended the entire platter over the both of them.

Marinette, covered in vegetable dip and with a pineapple ring around one eye, laughed off his apologies, saying that he owed her quite a few more of those, given how clumsy she was.

His Lady took things in stride, it seemed. They returned to the game, and so began the most violent series of events that Adrien’s metaphorical ass had gone through.

He wasn't sure how he would get through school on Monday.

**Author's Note:**

> "No Johns" is from the Smash Bros. community.
> 
> Also I'm on tumblr at johncribati.tumblr.com. you can ask me stuff there I guess.


End file.
